Yemeni editor held incommunicado, critical newspaper sued

New
York, May 8, 2009--Amid an increasing crackdown on the media in Yemen, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Yemeni
authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a journalist who has been held
incommunicado since May 4 after he was arrested in southern Yemen. CPJ also
called on the authorities to drop a series of lawsuits against an independent
critical newspaper.

Security forces arrested Fuad
Rashid, editor-in-chief of Mukalla ‎Press Web site, during a raid in ‎Al-Mukalla in the province of Hadhramaut, Mukalla
Pressreported.
The Web site has ‎covered
the recent clashes, which began on April 27 between security forces and
disaffected residents who accuse the government of marginalization in the
southern region of Yemen.

‎"We ask the authorities to reveal where and why they are
holding Fuad Rashid without delay," said Mohamed
Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program ‎coordinator. "The secrecy
surrounding ‎his
detention is alarming. He should be charged or ‎released immediately.‎"‎

In addition to sending troops to ‎stabilize the security
situation in the south, the Yemeni government has cracked down on the media outlets
that have ‎critically
covered the clashes. Since May 1, authorities have barred the sale of ‎eight newspapers, among them the popular Aden-based independent daily
Al-Ayyam. ‎

Today the district attorney's
office in Aden sent
a summons for Al-Ayyam's editor-in-chief, ‎Hisham Bashraheel, to appear at his office
on May 10 in relation to a lawsuit filed by ‎the Ministry of Information, Bashraheel
Bashraheel, general manager of Al-Ayyam and Hisham Bashraheel's son, told ‎CPJ.Although specific charges are not mentioned in the order, the general
manager said he ‎believed
that it is likely related to the newspaper's coverage of the unrest in the
south of the country.‎

On Wednesday, Minister of
Information Hassan Ahmed al-Luzi defended the ‎government's
actions against the newspapers, claiming their ‎coverage was working against national
unity and the country's interests ‎and
that it had "spread hatred and ‎enmity
among the united people of Yemen."‎

In another case, Hisham Bashraheel
and his other son, Hani Bashraheel, have been ordered to appear before the district
attorney in Sana'a on May 9 in relation to an attack on his home in February 2008. A group of armed men
attacked the newspaper's compound, which includes Bashraheel's home, leading to
a gunfight with the paper's guards in which one of the assailants died.

"The timing of these lawsuits
against Hisham Bashraheel and his family members strongly suggest that they
might be politically motivated as retribution for Al-Ayyam's critical
coverage," said Abdel Dayem.

Muhammad Al-Baqwali, the family's
lawyer, told CPJ that the district attorney's order was made on behalf of
relatives of the killed gunman; they are accusing Bashraheel and his son of
inciting the guard to kill the attacker. Al-Baqwali said the district attorney violated
the law because he did not obtain new evidence before issuing the summons.